Birth Effects

I have always considered myself an able person, but aware of my difference. As a child, I drew myself as a crude stick figure with two marks for the left hand and a circle for the right. Simply stated, I was born without hands; but this isn’t the full extent of my condition, my birth defects. Perhaps the greatest barrier to a normal life is my prosthetic leg, a manufactured limb enabling mobility and independence. It is also an object without life, lying discarded near the bedside or balanced near the bath’s edge, always waiting and strangely benevolent as my detachable piece. I remember a childhood of pain and discomfort, rebellion for being different, and determination to be equal. Need bound me to the leg, and it served as a surrogate until outgrown or broken. Like a fetish object, I kept each retired piece as evidence and a reminder of another stage successfully navigated.

This body of work explores my relationship with accumulated prosthetic limbs since birth. I am interested in their role as replacement human legs and the nature of them being crudely seductive objects. The materials used to make the prosthesis can be beautiful and the shapes are as evocative as pieces of sculpture.

My aim is to create awareness for what I call the conditions of survival. This requirement is unique to each of us. The dependency on the limb has evolved my identity as a person and established limitations to my abilities. The medical classification, birth defects, denotes a negative condition, a defective birth. But I prefer to view the result of having these effects, these legs, as a positive solution – a right to life.